Baseball Study

Hand Muscle Study by sEMG

by Dr. Terry Zachary 07/15/06

Participation of Finger Flexor muscles vs. Finger Extensor Muscles In Baseball

The J&J Engineering I-330 C2 Mini-sEMG (surface electromyography) is used in testing hand muscle activity in baseball players. The sEMG leads are placed on the finger flexor belly (EMG-A Red) and the finger extensor belly (EMG-B Green) of the appropriate forearm of each athlete. Amateur baseball players are tested.

Electrode placements are determined using palpation during isolated finger flexion and extension respectively. Lead placements are illustrated below. The study to follow is the first of its kind to test hand muscle participation in baseball.

In the studies to follow, it becomes clear that both finger extensor muscles and finger flexor muscles are extremely active during all baseball skills. Training all 18 hand muscles (9 muscles close & 9 muscles open the hand) provides an essential competitive edge in baseball, maximizing reaction speed, strength and stamina.

Athletic muscle preparation must ensure that all muscle groups are exercised through a full, natural, 3D range of motion. The classic “rice box” exercise (immerse hand in box of rice, then squeeze and open against resistance of rice) fulfills this requirement in the area of hand muscle training reasonably well (but not entirely), yet has been passed up in favour of convenience-based ‘squeeze-only’ hand exercise tools (mostly coiled or spring-loaded).

Handmaster Plus by doczac offers a modern solution—the proper exercise mechanics of a rice box (and more) with the convenience of a portable hand exerciser (see www.doczac.com for more information).

General exercise physiology principles tell us that using “flexion-only approaches” to train any area of the body is unwise—so why do we allow it at the hand? Hand muscle imbalance-related conditions (carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis/golfer’s elbow, DeQuervain’s tenosynovitis, tendonitis, RSI, etc.) have never been more prevalent.

The following studies illustrate the extrinsic finger muscles that are readily accessible by sEMG. To study intrinsic hand muscle activity, needle-insertion EMG is required to compliment the current studies.

In all cases to follow, red signals indicate the participation of the finger flexor muscles and green signals indicates the finger extensor muscles.

Baseball players require 27 strong, healthy, balanced hand muscles for maximum performance (reaction speed, strength, ROM & stamina) and injury prevention.

The baseball athlete must additionally strengthen the 9 forearm muscles that support the position of the wrist, forearm, and elbow in grip. These 9 muscles are crucial in determining the overall health, balance, stability, and performance of the elbow, forearm, and wrist, a huge concern for all trainers, therapists, and baseball athletes, especially pitchers.

The 9 grip stabilizer muscles of the forearm have traditionally been strengthened in 2 dimensions. Handmaster Plus exercises are not only for the hand closing and hand opening muscles to be trained through their full, natural ranges of motion, but also train the muscles through their full natural three-dimensional (3D) ranges of motion. The result is maximum performance, maximum muscle balance, and maximum health, and a reduced risk of repetitive grip injury. See ‘Figure 8 Exercise’ at handmasterplus.com for additional info.

Baseball Swing – Batter

Baseball – Pitcher

Baseball Infielder

Baseball Catcher (Target Up & Catch)

Baseball Outfielder Catch

Baseball Catch (1st Base)

Conclusions:

Finger flexor and finger extensor muscles are active during all baseball skills studied.
Finger flexor and finger extensor muscles should be trained to prepare baseball athletes for performance, as well as to prevent overuse and strain injuries to the hand, wrist, forearm and elbow.
Finger flexor and finger extensor muscles should be considered in the rehabilitation of all hand, wrist, forearm and elbow injuries to prepare baseball players for reintroduction to baseball performance, and to prevent re-injury.
Finger extensor muscles participate as a stabilizing role in support of gripping actions. Extensor tendonitis (wrist/elbow) is risked when extensors are repetitively overused without preparation.
Finger extensor muscles are especially called upon to stabilize the grip action due to the high torque during pitching & batting. Injuries to the hand, wrist, forearm and elbow (especially the extensor side) are becoming more common.
Both finger flexor and extensor muscle training is recommended for hockey players, as is 3D forearm and elbow training.
Follow up studies are required to further test and document current findings.

For more grip pattern studies and thermography presentations, please visit www.handmasterplus.com. If you have direct questions regarding grip training, please email us at info@doczac.com.